Against a backdrop of agro-ecological transition in the agricultural and agri-food sectors, Gaïago and UniLaSalle are combining their expertise to help understand the interaction mechanisms between microorganisms, soils and plants.
The Biomechanisms for Soil Life and Plant Nutriprotection Chair brings together two complementary worlds: academia and business.
Gaïago's innovative Agtech solutions and UniLaSalle's research are based on a holistic approach to agrosystems, with their diversity of production methods and crops.
OUR APPROACH
MICROBIOLOGY AS A LEVER FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
UniLaSalle and Gaïago share the conviction that a better understanding of microbiology is a major lever for implementing the agroecological transition: healthy, efficient and sustainable agriculture.
The work of the Biomechanisms for Soil Life and Nutriprotection Chair will be part of an integrated approach to cropping systems, focusing in particular on the microbial ecology of soils and plants, at the root interface and in the phyllosphere.
UNDERSTANDING PLANT HEALTH THROUGH THE HOLOBIONTE CONCEPT
In line with the One Health approach - which links the health of soils, plants, animals and people - UniLaSalle and Gaïago are working on a global approach to ecosystems for the benefit of all parties involved.
This new paradigm is essential if we are to meet the challenge of reducing the chemical inputs used to feed plants and protect them from disease. It requires a better understanding of the complexity of plant-microbiota interactions.
This approach integrates the interaction of multiple symbionts, the host and the environment into a new understanding of the efficient use of nutrients and the etiology of plant diseases. The aim is to decompartmentalize Nutrition and Protection in crop management, and to address plant health through the global concept of Nutriprotection.
FROM THE LABORATORY TO THE FIELD: INTEGRATIVE, MULTI-SCALE RESEARCH
The research questions addressed by the Biomechanisms for Soil Life and Nutriprotection Chair are based on knowledge of plant, agronomic and microbiological sciences. Experiments will integrate simplified laboratory approaches, miniaturized and controlled ecosystem models and real field conditions.
The diversity of study contexts is an essential element in the reliability of the scientific approach and the validation of the Nutriprotection concept.
Our partners
Awarded the Greentech Innovation label, Gaïago is a Breton company that since 2014 has been creating innovative solutions - based on the activation of microbiology - mainly in soils, but also around the seed and on the plant, with a view to revitalizing agrosystems.
These products develop and diversify soil and phyllosphere micro-organisms, generating numerous agronomic, nutritional and environmental benefits. Gaïago products are universal and are currently distributed in 8 European countries.
Gaïago, based in Saint Malo, aims to be the independent leader in soil revitalization.
UniLaSalle is positioned as the engineering school at the crossroads of the energy, digital and ecological transitions. UniLaSalle offers courses from Bac+3 to Bac+6, as well as research activities in the fields of earth, life, environmental, energy and digital sciences, focusing on themes at the heart of sustainable development issues. UniLaSalle has 4 campuses (Amiens, Beauvais, Rennes, Rouen), 3,800 students and 20,000 alumni. Its research is structured around 7 research units, 7 company chairs, research platforms and innovation centers.
The UniLaSalle Rouen campus trains engineers in agronomy and the food and non-food valorization of agro-resources. Its research activities contribute to a systemic approach to agro-ecological production that takes into account soil/plant/microorganism interactions, on the one hand, and non-food uses of agricultural products and co-products in the form of bio-based materials, on the other.
The school is part of the La Salle global education network, which includes 52 universities worldwide.
UniLaSalle is a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and has the EESPIG label.